a. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for launching a series of spheres and in particular to an apparatus for launching a series of spheres into a gas producing well.
b. Related Art
It is a widely accepted understanding that with aged wells, or in some circumstances due to well bore formation on gas wells, production may be problematic or cease totally. Typically, this is due to the well bore formation which has a high ingress of fluids, for example water, which chokes the well bore. The volume of the well bore produced fluids can create a greater hydrostatic pressure acting on the well bore and be greater than the pressure of the produced gas. This can lead to loss or failure of the producing section of the well bore.
It is also known to that to solve the problem, it is necessary to reduce the effects of the well bore produced fluids by isolating the fluid producing section of the reservoir or lifting the fluid to allow production. One method to isolate the water producing section of the reservoir is through the introduction of spheres which are heavier than the well bore fluids, which act to reduce the well bore cross-sectional area and limit the rate of water ingress into the well bore. The spheres will produce a honeycomb effect within the well bore and help to maintain a higher gas pressure, thus allowing gas production through the honeycomb of spheres. Some systems for introducing these spheres are commercially available but these have a number of disadvantages, the most important of which are that the size of sphere that can be used is limited and the loading of the spheres into the systems can take a considerable period of time.